Woven wire fabric



WOVEN WIRE FABRIC Filed Nov. 9, 1957 .f www Patented Nov. 1, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WOVEN WIRE FABRIC tion of New Jersey v Application Novemberil, 1937, Serial No. 173,562

v 8 Claims.

The invention relates to woven Wire fabric and involves an improvement in means for hinging together adjacent helical coils of such a fabric and for providing wear resistant edges for such fabric when it is used for belting.

One of the primary objects of the invention is the provision of a hinging rod structure which is so designed that it serves not only as a hinge element between adjacent coil elements of the woven fabric, but is so constructed as to form wear resistant edges for they fabric when it is made up as a belt. 'Ihe use of a hinge rod for the purpose of connecting the helical coils of a woven wire fabric is well known. It has also been suggested heretofore that onev end of such a hinge rod be joined to the end of an 'adjacent hinge rod in such a manner that the rods of successive pairs are connected together at one end of the hinging unit. In such structures the unjoined ends of the rods which form the pairs are free to move laterally with respect to each other, so that the opposite edges of a belt constructed in this manner do not have the same degree of flexibility, resilience and stretch. Furthermore, such structures provide no means for preventing endwise movement of the hinge rods in one direction transversely of the belt. These disadvantages are overcome in the present improvement by rigidly connecting the adjacent ends of successive pairs of hinge rods so that each of the pairs of rods forms a rigid structural unit, and the rods are restrained against endwise movement thereof in both directions with respect to the belt.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a wear resistant edge for wire belting, so constructed that the wear thereon when the belt is in use does not affect the coil elements of which the woven fabric is made. With such a structure, the wear resistant elements may be made of a material which is more resistant to wear than the material of the coils, and they may be repaired or replaced at a cost much less than the cost of repairing or replacing the coils themselves.

A further object of the invention is the pro'- Vision of a wear resistant edge for a wire belt, so constructed that one edge of the wear resistant element is positioned substantially in the plane of one surface of the belt in order to provide a continuous operating surface throughout the width of the belt.

Still further objects and advantages of the improvements will be apparent from the following (Cl. 24S-46) description, taken with the .accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan View showing a section of belting made in accordance with the present invention, with a portion thereof broken away; 5

the same in the drawing in connection with a 15:

fabric in which the helical coils are of a composite character in that each coil element com- -prises two independent coils I0 and II of similar structure and threaded together in such a manner as to be confined within the same marginal limits.- The adjacent ends of the two coils forming this composite structure are welded together as shown at I2 and I3 in order to provide a rigid coil unit in which each coil element is held against movement with respect to the other.

A plurality of such coil units are successively interwoven with each other to form a continuous length in a manner well understood in the art. As will be apparent from the drawing, the loop portions I4 of the turns of the coils Iii overlap and interengage with loop portions I5 of the coils II in the adjacent coil unit. It will also be apparent that loop portions i6 of coils II overlap and interengage with loopportions I'l of coils Ill in the adjacent coil unit. The loop portions of adjacent coil units overlap to such an extent as to provide openings I8 extending transversely of the fabric for receiving hinge rods I9. As is well understood in the art, the tension which is exerted upon the loop portions of one of the coil elements by an endwise pull upon a belt of this character is transmitted through the hinge rod, and not directly, to the interengaging loop portions of the adjacent coil elements, to thereby provide a more flexible belt structure.

'I'he hinge rods I9 are not attached to the loops, but extend freely through the overlapping portions of the adjacent coil units and are thus freely movable with respect to the coils to provide a flexible hinge structure. Each of the rods projects outwardly beyond the opposite edges of the fabric as shown at 20. The adjacent ends of successive pairs of hinge rods are rigidly connected together by means of short bars 2l made of wear resistant material and having the opposite ends thereof Weldedto theY projecting ends 20 of the hinge rods as shownrat 22.

'Ihe bars 2|VV are preferably of such a length as to extend laterally slightly beyond the hinge` Vdirection transversely of the belt, is prevented.

As will be apparent from the'structure illus,- trated in the drawing, the hinge rods are en- Vtirelyy disconnected from 'the coil elements, thus providing maximum flexibility in a belt structure Y of this general type. As will also be apparent,

each hingin'g'unit is of 'rigid construction and Acomprises a pair'of hinge rods rigidly connected together at theirends, thusassuring the same flexibility and resiliency of the fabric along the opposite edgesfof the belt. Inasmuch as conveyor belts Vof this general type are' usually subject to excessive wear along the'edges, by reason offrictional engagementwith the guide elements Vwith which they rcontact when'inruse, the edge portions ofthe belt are usually' damaged much K more rapidly than other parts. YWith thejpresent improvement thedamage canV easily be remedied by replacing one or more of the bars 2| jor the hinge rods I9. This obviates the necessityof replacing the helical coils, which must be resorted to when thebelt is so constructed thatY the ends Vof the coil elements are subjected to wear by frictional engagement with guide members;4

While a certain form of my improvement, to-

gether with the preferred arrangement ofthe various parts thereof, has been disclosed herein,

Vit. is to be understood that the invention is not intended to -be limited to the precisestructure and arrangement of partsvshownand described..

The ydisclosure is therefore to be regarded as illustrative only, .andit is to be understood that the invention is susceptible of embodiment in other Vforms and arrangements so long as .they

. arewithin the scope of the appended claims.

What I desire to claim is:

1. lAV woven wire belt comprising a plurality of interwoven helical coils having the turns of each overlapping and interlocking with the turnsof adjacent coils to form a continuous fabric, a continuous hingeV Yrod extending entirely through each coil between the turns ,thereof Vand the overlapping turns of each adjacent coil; and'means for rigidly connectingV the endsof each rod with the correspondingends of an adjacent rod. A

2. A woven wire belt comprising a plurality of interwovenV helical coils having the'turns'of Yeach y f overlapping and interlocking with the turns of adjacent coils to form a Vcontinuous' fabric,'a hingeV rod extending entirely through each coil within the overlappingrrportions of adjacent coils, and Wear resistant bars rigidly secured'to the Y. adjacent ends of successive pairs ofV said rods and having one edge arranged substantially in the plane of one surface of said fabric.

3. A woven Wire belt comprising a plurality -of interwovenhelical coils having the turns of each overlapping and interlocking with the turns of adjacent coils to forma continuous fabric, a

hinge rod extending through each coil within the overlapping portions of adjacent coils and projecting slightly beyond the opposite ends of the coils, and-means rigidly connecting the projecting.v ends of successive pairs of saidY rods to form wear resistant edges for said belt.

4. A woven wire belt comprising a plurality of 'interwovenhelical coils having the turns of each overlapping and interlocking with the turnsV of radjacent coils to form a continuous fabric, a

composite helical Vcoils havingV the'turns -of each overlapping and interlocking with the turns of straight,

rigid hinge 'rod extending loosely through each coil withinthe overlapping portion of the turns of adjacent coils, and means for rigidly connecting together theadjacent ends of successive pairs of said rods to form Wear're- Y sistant edges for said belt and to prevent endwise movement of said rods in both directions with respect to ,said belt. Y

V5. A woven wire belt comprising a plurality of composite helical coils havingY the turns of each overlapping and interlockingrwith the `turns of adjacent coils to form a'continuous interwoven fabric, a hinge rod extending freely through each of said Vcomposite coils Within the overlapping portions of the pairs Yof adjacent coils', and wear` Vresistant bars rigidly connecting togetherV the adjacent ends of successive pairs of said rods at opposite edges of said belt.

6. A woven wire belt comprising a plurality vof adjacent coils toform acontinuousV interwoven fabric, the adjacent ends of the wires forming each composite coil being rigidly securedV together,

a hinge rod extending freely through each of said k composite coils within the overlapping portions Y of the turns of adjacent coils, and Wear resistant bars rigidly connecting together the adjacent Vends Aof successive pairs of said rods on both adjacent coils to form a continuous interwoven' vedges of said belt.VV

7; A woven Wire belt comprising a plurality of composite helical coils having the turns ofeach overlapping andrinterlocking `with the turns of adjacent coils to form a continuous interwoven fabric, means Vfor securing together the adjacent ends of the wires forming each composite coil, a

Ahinge rod extending freelythrough each of said composite coils within Vthe overlapping portions of the turns of adjacent coils, and means rigidly connecting the adjacent ends of successive pairs of rods to provide wear resistant edges' for said belt and to prevent endwisemovement of said Y rods in both directions With respectto said belt.

8. AV woven wire belt comprising a plurality of Vcomposite helical coils having the turns of each overlapping and interlockingwith.the'turns of fabric, the adjacentY ends of the wires'formi'ng each composite coil being welded together, Ya

hinge rod extending freely through each of said composite coils within the overlapping portions of the Aturns of adjacent coils and projecting slightly beyond the edges of said'belt, and-wear resistant bars Welded to the adjacent Yprojecting ends of successive pairs of said rods and preventing endwise movement of said rods with respect to said belt.

RAYMOND J. GUBA. 

